Warrior...Princess
Synopsis King Lias, the cousin of Sisyphus, hires Xena to protect his daughter, Diana, who is an exact double of...Xena! It seems that Diana is about to marry Mineus (arranged of course; they have never met) in order to join two kingdoms together. Part of the deal is that Mineus' kingdom must give up slavery. This does not set well with the slave trade lobbyists. The king fears an assassination attempt upon Diana, who has only left the castle twice before and is rather naive. Xena agrees to go undercover as Diana, while, instead of hiding Diana in a secure place, Diana is forced to dress up like Xena and is thrown out of the castle. Xena-as-Diana then meets Philemon, the brother of Mineus. He was sent to make the final arrangements and preparations for the marriage and fusion of the two kingdoms. He has secretly fallen in love with Diana. He can sense something different with Diana, but he takes it as pre-wedding heebie- jeebies. Meanwhile, Diana-as-Xena comes across Gabrielle in the midst of an attack. Gabrielle thinks it's a test and so clobbers the fiend. Gabrielle doesn't believe Diana's story until Diana starts to cry. Gabrielle finally gets the clue and agrees to help Diana survive on the outside. Xena-as-Diana thwarts off an assassination attempt and realizes that someone is allowing the assassins to enter the castle. Later that evening, Xena-as-Diana meets Mineus and avoids playing a harp by breaking the strings. Gabrielle and Diana-as-Xena slowly bond on the road. Diana-as-Xena is exposed to some poor folks and is shocked. As Gabrielle feeds the folks, Diana-as-Xena almost decapitates everyone by throwing her "rounding killing thing." When Gabrielle tells Diana-as-Xena it's called a chakram, Diana- as-Xena says, "Bless you." At last Philemon discovered his beloved is not his beloved. Xena fends off another attack and finds out that General Bromius is behind the assassination attempts. When they go to Bromius' room, he has committed suicide. Philemon suspects murder. The King assumes that the peril is over, so he recalls Diana home. Diana returns and Xena leaves. Philemon realizes it was murder and rushes out to find Xena to bring her back. At the wedding, just as Philemon feared, another attempt is made on Diana's life. However, Diana is really Xena-as-Diana and beats the pants off of everyone at the wedding. Meanwhile, Diana-as-Xena gets Philemon to admit his love for Diana. Back at the wedding, Mineus absolutely refuses to marry Diana because of her actions at the wedding. Memorable quotes * Tesa: The usual, your Highness A full 1000 strokes. You wanna look your best for Mineus. :Xena (as Diana): My hair has never looked so good. It doesn’t need anymore brushing. :Tesa: Only 200 more to go. :Xena (as Diana): I tell you what, uh-- We’ll do 1200 strokes tomorrow to make up for it. * Diana (as Xena): It's my round killing thing. :Gabrielle: Chakram. :Diana (to Gabrielle): Bless you. Cast * Lucy Lawless as Xena and Diana * Renée O'Connor as Gabrielle * Iain Rea as Philemon * Norman Forsey as Lias * Latham Gaines as Mineus * Patrick Smith as Glauce * Michelle Huirama as Tesa * Jason Hoyte as Timus * Jonathan Acorn as Mirus * Ian Miller as Low Life * Chris Bohm as Guard * Mia Koning as Waif Background information and notes * This is the first episode where Gabrielle's scrolls appear. The scrolls will go on to be of great importance to the series. Continuity and mistakes * At 18:45 the horse wrangler can be seen walking around Xena's horse over her shoulder in the distance. Disclaimer * Neither Xena nor her remarkably coincidental identical twin, Diana, were harmed during the production of this motion picture. Category:Episodes Category:Season 1